Naperville Business Tort Lawyers

A business tort is a wrongful action against a business or person that can be pursued in civil court, whether they are also pursued in the criminal arena. Business torts are sometimes referred to as “economic torts.” When one party intentionally interferes and damages the business interests of another by causing loss of business opportunities or partners, loss of a competitive edge, or loss of clients, a tort claim is often the remedy.

Types of Business Tort

Please review the types of common business torts listed below to discover if your company may have fallen prey to any of these harmful actions.

Deceptive and Unlawful Trade Practices

Deceptive and unlawful trade practices, such as false advertising, mislead consumers. To successfully bring a claim for Deceptive and Unlawful Trade Practices, you need to prove:

• The defendant acted in a way that caused you injury.
• The behavior of the defendant would be likely to mislead consumers.

This is a claim which may qualify for punitive damages if it is shown that the defendant acted with the intention to defraud.

Tortious interference with a contract

When a third party attempts to prevent or disrupt a business relationship between two parties who have existing contracts. To succeed with a claim of tortious interference, you need to show that:

• You had a valid contract in place with another party.
• The defendant knew about the contract and interfered with the agreement on purpose, causing damage to your company.

If you succeed in a claim of tortious interference, you can recover monetary damages for what you would have gained had the contract been able to proceed.

What is tortuous interference with prospective advantage?

When your business is damaged by someone interfering with a contract that is in the process of being completed but has not yet been finalized, the infraction is called tortious interference with prospective economic advantage. In such a claim, you must prove:

• The person who interfered was aware of your pending contract.
• The interloper intentionally caused the disruption to your agreement.
• The defendant used wrongful means, such as physical violence, fraud, deception, or economic pressure.
• Your company would have succeeded in obtaining the contract if the intruder had not interfered.

Commercial Trade Disparagement

 Also called Trade Libel, this type of claim can be brought when a business or individual is guilty of publishing derogatory statements about a business to prevent the public from doing business with the defamed company.

• To succeed in a claim like this, you must prove:
• The defendant publicly and knowingly made a false statement.
• The defendant did this without concern that the information they were spreading was false.
• The defendant intended or expected that their behavior would financially damage the business through loss of customers.
• Your company suffered financial loss as a result.

Damages for a commercial or trade disparagement claim are not easy to prove because you must connect the improper behavior to your loss of customers or other harm to your business.

Misappropriation of Trade Secrets

What is a trade secret? A formula, device, compilation, or process that can give a company an advantage over its competitors because the competitor does not have access to the same secret, either because the secret is unknown to them, or they are prevented from using it through a patent. The term misappropriation refers to gaining the knowledge through improper methods. For instance, while being aware that the trade secrets were obtained improperly by the party you got them from. A non-compete clause is intended to help prevent this type of tort. Such a clause prohibits an employee from taking job with your competitor or from starting up a competing business of their own in a specified region for a specified period after leaving your company. Examples of how you might be a victim of this type of tort:

• If someone has acquired your trade secrets while in a trusted relationship with you, such as while being an employee of your company.
• Someone obtained you trade secrets through illegal methods, such as fraud, bribery, espionage, hacking, or theft.

Conversion of Business Property

 This claim refers to someone who makes unauthorized use of a business’s property or provides your business property to a third party and your business is harmed as a result. For example, if the defendant obtains a list of customer emails from their employer and provides it to another business without authorization, or uses your business facilities (such as a banquet hall) without your authorization.

Fraudulent Transfer

 This type of claim is brought when a debtor who is in bankruptcy transfers assets to another party to prevent their creditors from taking those assets. Such a transfer qualifies under business tort if it occurs within a specified time before filing bankruptcy. In such a case, the plaintiff must prove the defendant’s intention to keep the assets from (defraud) the creditor.

Restraint of Trade

 This type of business tort is characterized by a person or business unlawfully preventing another party from being able to conduct business. Examples of how you might be a victim of this type of tort:

• Someone has tried to coerce you to stop competing with their business
• Two or three of your competitors collude to fix their prices to push your business out of the industry (known as restraint of trade)
• If your company is being squeezed out of the market by a competitor who’s grown so large, it’s pushing all other businesses out of the market

Call Our Naperville Business Tort Lawyer Today

If you have questions about business tort, please call our Naperville business tort lawyers to schedule your free legal consultation. Let us help you navigate your business tort claim to get compensation for the damage that’s been done to your company. Give us a call and find out how we can help.